Soundness Update

After the first visit from Dr. Phelps, Tiamo's scrape healed, and she returned to check out his hind end. Unfortunately, I could not be there because of school, but my mom was there. Dr. Phelps jogged him and then flexed him, and he was a Grade 2 in both hind legs. She took X-Rays, and he had some arthritis in his stifles and hocks, more in his stifles. She recommended injecting his stifles, and my mom agreed. She injected them with hyaluronic acid, a steriod, and a tiny bit of antibiotic to prevent infection. Following that, he had 1.5 days of stall rest and 3 days of turn out before I started riding him lightly. He was 90% better and almost all of the stifle locking/slipping had stopped (although it hadn't been locking frequently before). He was still "locking" once in awhile after standing in one place awhile, like coming out of the stall or crossties. But...he was still not 100%. He was not lame; he even seemed to work out of it a few times, but he was dragging his hind feet a bit, especially the right hind, and he didn't feel normal. I waited a few days, but after it didn't clear up, I called the vet. She came out and jogged/flexed him again, and he was about a Grade 1. She told me I basically had three options: see how he was after getting his feet done by the farrier the next day (He was only just at 5 weeks. Slightly long toes but not bad), inject his hocks, or do nothing. I trusted her opinion and went with my gut, and I decided to go ahead with the hock injections.

He did have a loading dose of Adequan and was getting it once a month. After talking to Allison at the last clinic, we decided to order some Pentosan which we ordered straight from Australia. I'm one lucky girl, and Tiamo is a spoiled horse! Right now, we're going to follow the instructions on the website which say to give it once a week for 5-6 weeks and then wait 6 months. He'll get Adequan before every event or clinic as well. And he's getting Estrone shots once a month for awhile for muscle building. He's going to be poked with a needle a lot I guess!

So Poplar Place Area 3 Championships isn't happening, and I think our next event will be Champagne Run in July. He's on Day 2.5 of turn out (He got turned out in one of the small paddocks for a couple of hours Sunday). I get to ride tomorrow!